Once-promising MBEST Center in Marina a bust

Empty offices and barren land in Marina mark the collapse of a plan to turn Fort Ord into "a new Silicon Valley."

The Monterey Bay Education, Science and Technology Center — once heralded as the creator of more than 4,000 new jobs — was envisioned as a research park to be run by UC Santa Cruz.

But not much has been done since 1994, when more than 400 acres near Marina Municipal Airport was set aside for development of the center. Its headquarters, a red, yellow and gray building at 3180 Imjin Road, has a couple of tenants but consists mostly of wide-open rooms with unused Internet ports, whiteboards and power plugs.

And not only has the project not taken off after a $15 million investment, but the school entrusted with it has scaled back its scope and may sell much of it.

"We think, with a smaller footprint, it could take off," said Graham Bice, a managing director for the center.

UC Santa Cruz said this week it is still going ahead with a controversial plan to sell much of the site, while those involved hold out hope the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey will take the reins.

Leaders at NPS had been in talks with Rep. Sam Farr's office for nearly a year to lease the site, becoming the center's much sought-after "anchor tenant."

But after a report from the Naval Inspector General last year ousted the school's top two officials, and criticized its shift in focus from naval officer instruction to reimbursable research, the project once again sits in limbo.

"If we don't have it," Farr, D-Carmel, said two weeks ago, "then we won't have the opportunity when it does blossom."

What happened

In 1994 — the year the Fort Ord Army base closed — UC Santa Cruz was given 1,100 acres for free, thanks to changes pushed by Farr in the state Assembly to classify University of California and California State University systems as redevelopment agencies.

Roughly 600 acres of land would be undeveloped and maintained by the UC Natural Reserve System, leaving more than 400 acres for development.

The idea was for UCSC to attract businesses and an anchor tenant to partner with it to build a large research park that would develop into a hub of high-tech industry.

Monterey City Manager Fred Meurer, the former Fort Ord public works director, said UC MBEST, as the center is known, represented the early vision of turning the former base into a place for education, research and development.

"MBEST was going to tie it all together," he said Friday.

Yet no major business ever came, and UCSC had all but given up on the plan by 2010, according to a report by Pennsylvania-based Urban Design Associates, hired to re-evaluate the site.

"Despite high aspirations, market demand for the Center has failed to meet expectations," said the report, commissioned by UCSC.

UCSC Chancellor George Blumenthal announced in March 2010, after a second major developer backed out, the size of the center would be cut from 484 acres to 70. Also, the university would consider selling surrounding land.

Farr expressed frustration with the plan, even writing a letter that month to the Fort Ord Reuse Authority board regarding the university's apparent intention "to sell off the MBEST parcel to the highest bidder."

The UC system had already spent $4 million developing the center, and the federal government spent $11 million for the center and other infrastructure, according to the 2011 report.

The UC system would be allowed to keep revenue from the sale of buildings and land, according to the report.

Bice said any money earned from the sale of parcels would be used to recoup money spent on the center. After that, he said, officials have not discussed where excess cash might go.

"We haven't had the good fortune to have a positive cash flow that would lead us to answer that question," he said.

Blumenthal did not return calls for comment, but told the FORA board in March 2010 that "current market conditions for developing research and development centers are no longer favorable," according to meeting minutes.

Yet finding uses for the land outside of a big-box store or an office building may prove difficult.

Saltwater intrusion spoiled the well on the center's east campus, "so continued farming of this property is not likely to be feasible," according to the report.

The center is not a total bust. Its main tenant is RBF Consulting, a design and construction firm, and there is also the Marina Technology Cluster, a high-tech incubator of business start-ups.

Those businesses are in the center's headquarters, located on one of four campuses. Bice said they have not marketed the center's west, east, south and eight street campuses yet because they must first complete a subdivision map and a specific plan with Marina. He said the plans should be completed by summer.

He did not say what could go in the parcels, but whatever it would be will be consistent with FORA and Marina plans.

"They have not been terribly motivated to utilize this site," he said. "... I would say the project has gone undermarketed and that those of us that have been with FORA for a significant period of time have always been disappointed that it hasn't been utilized."

NPS plans in limbo

Around the time the UCSC report was completed, Farr and his staff began talks with NPS about the school possibly taking advantage of the site. Its proximity to the airport would be a plus because the school has a facility there for remotely operated vehicles.

Farr's staff began working with midlevel NPS officials on the project, including development of a new building, and by fall they just had to present the plan to President Dan Oliver.

Then, the IG's report came out in November.

Oliver and Provost Leonard Ferrari were removed from office for not adhering to Navy and federal rules. The report was also critical of the university's shift in focus from naval officer instruction to reimbursable research.

NPS spokesman Alan Richmond said Friday that current school officials had no information on the project but were looking into it.

With the project seemingly on ice again, some officials still hope it will go through.

"I hope that any changes in leadership at Naval Postgraduate School would still recognize the MBEST site is a very appropriate site for (them) to consider expansion," Potter said.

Jane Parker, a FORA board member and Monterey County supervisor, said the center was worth fighting for.

"I hope that it would still be part of the vision for the base reuse plan," she said. "Jobs that could be generated at the former Fort Ord were always envisioned to be education-related. The idea (was that) these were jobs that the local population could aspire to and be able to stay in the area ... and support themselves and a family."